A Fateful Encounter
by PPP SSC
Summary: Based on Midnight Rx. Smithers' unconscious thoughts and what happens after he comes to. Warning: includes hypothetical slash


A Fateful Encounter (based on Midnight Rx)

I wanted to tell him I couldn't afford it. I wanted to tell him I needed it badly. But he would see me as defying his judgment, and that could get me a pay cut, demoted, or fired, and that was not something I could risk. So I held it all in. In fact, the entire idea of a thyroid inflammation seemed like something I was simply paranoid of. So I stood back and watched as the love of my life performed this deed. Apparently, some people in the town had been smuggling drugs. But I couldn't. I would not stoop to that level. My love had made a choice and the choice was not hurting me, so far.

Suddenly, in his office, at the worst possible time, my throat swelled. I could barely breathe, so I fell to the floor. He wasn't watching at the time, but when he turned around he was quite concerned. I told him, "Sir, when you cancelled the prescription drugs from the medical plan, I couldn't afford my thyroid medication anymore… but before I die there's something I've always wanted to say…" _I love you. _But it didn't come out. I was choking so hard I couldn't even get out those three little words. I passed out, and felt my body levitating.

He was holding me with his delicate hands. I couldn't believe it. There was no way under normal conditions he could hold that much weight. But I felt myself being carried. I couldn't perceive the words, but my ears heard his beautiful voice. He was speaking to me. I came to a stop somewhere else. He left the room. Oh, why must he have left the room? I must have remained unconscious for several hours after that.

I felt a warm sensation in my throat, like medicine, but one that backfired. His melodic voice sounded terrified as he seemed to be giving up. And then it happened. I was shocked to find his lips touching my own. I know he was only doing it because I was choking; I know he was sharing his breath with me; and I know he would not have any reason to kiss me. But it felt amazing. My eyes popped open in shock, but he was too busy breathing into me to notice. He was not stopping for anything. He might have been enjoying this as much as I was, though I didn't doubt that this was probably false. I calmly closed my eyes again… if it could linger, let it linger. The longer the better. But it was all too brief. He removed his lips from mine, and I felt my breath returning to me.

I smiled at the love of my life and said, "You saved my life, sir!" He truly, truly did. And I got a kind of kiss in the process.

"Smithers, from now on I'll give full benefits to ALL my full-time employees!" he said, and I smiled. I had changed the company's policy. He had been concerned enough about me to change the policy to the entire company. And that alone set my heart aflutter. I loved him. I loved him so much.

But what really got me was this… bed, on which he had laid me. It was not a normal bed; but it was a glass coffin—such as the one from _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_, which means (unless Mr. Burns has no knowledge of connections such as this, which I expect him to know better than) he thought I was fair. Even if it was only objective, it elated me. This day more than any convinced me my crush MAY not be as unrequited as I had once believed. I love Mr. Burns, and he might not love me… not in the sensual romantic way… but he proved that I mattered to him, and that's all I ask for.

Mr. Burns likes to think that he's evil and heartless, but after that day, I'd never believe him again when he said so. He cares about me. He wants me to live. And he will resort to touching his lips to mine to save my life. Come to think of it, it's kind of sad that the drug plan has been changed.

I mean, sure it was painful to choke, and no one likes to be unconscious for that long. But Mr. Burns kissed me. I don't care if he insists it was only CPR, and I will never confront him about it, because I know he will insist simply that, but to me, it had the impact of a kiss. Maybe it was just because it was Mr. Burns, and anything Mr. Burns does to me is heaven; or maybe it's because I found out the love of my life was willing to save it, but I have felt this strange and unusual high ever since that day.

I haven't brushed my teeth since. Okay, I have. But every time I did, I would regret it, because a little of Mr. Burns' lingering breath would be removed. Not since that day have he and I been so close, and it's a real shame too. Mr. Burns is too right-winged and quaint to ever truly requite my feelings openly, even in the privacy of the two of us alone, but he did something for me that I was thankful for, while I was choking.

Lying on the ground, I wanted to tell him _I love you, _and I could tell him _I love you _anytime since, but I was too afraid, too very afraid, to tell him so. He never inquired about that unfinished sentence, but I inquired about how worried he was about me. He said his worry outweighed his body mass by at least 210 percent. This would have had more impact, had Mr. Burns been a heavier man. But it was still a lot.

Every time since then when I would do a task for him, I would think about that day. That fateful encounter with Mr. Burns' mouth that I would never have achieved in a perfect state of health. The thyroid inflammation was meant to happen; he was meant to remove prescription drugs from the plan; it was meant for me to obey the law despite the hankering opinions of others; it was meant for Mr. Burns to share breath with me. I loved every second of it. I loved the after-effect. I loved finding that beautiful glass coffin behind me. And I loved Mr. Burns. And I still do. I love Mr. Burns more than he will ever know.

He will never know how very much I love him because I couldn't tell him. I choked, literally, when trying to. And now, I simply wished I choked more often.

Author's note: I am now going on vacation for a week. So I won't be writing at least until I get back. Bye!


End file.
